Blood Rainbow
by Mechromaster
Summary: In a world far from Equestria, a malevolent force of corruption plans to shroud the land in chaos. Equestria is about to face its most dangerous and dark adversary yet. Rainbow dash, a citizen of Ponyvile and her fiends have to figure out how to stop this evil. But can they face the horrors that await and return with their sanity intact. This story may be scary to some readers.
1. No rest for the livin

Chapter 1 "no rest for the livin"

This was the longest night in Equestrian history, the night Nightmare Moon vowed to shroud the land in darkness. It is a most unholy night that all must endure. The wind as cold as ice, the trees like evil creatures looming over the shadow land and the fear that saturated the air like rain on soil.  
The worst place to be on this night was the sky. Cloudsdale, the grand city of the Pegasus ponies suffers greatly. The wind reforms the cloud structure like water reforms a sand castles and leaves it saggy and ruined. The leaders of the mighty city must post a group of "lucky" Pegasus fliers to create a tornado around the city. So nothing gets in that could hurt anypony and Cloudsdale sits nicely in the eye of the storm. It was a new idea brought forth by Spitfire, leader of the Wonderbolts.  
Unfortunately Rainbow Dash dose not have a team of talented flying Ponies at her disposal, her lovely little home was being reformed by the the maniacal powers of the elements. There she lay, on her bed staring blankly at the ceiling, hoping that a portal would open ant take her away form the God awful nightmare. "I can't take it!" She screamed in her head, "please make it end!" She rose from her cloud bed and floated down to her kitchen, she searched high and low but no food was to be seen, "oh why didn't I listen the my friend when they told me to stock up on food?"

"Rainbow" said Twilight "you need to stock up on food!"  
"In a minute" replied the stubborn Rainbow Dash "I need to fix up this trick, I'm going to show Spitfire I am Wonderbolts material"  
"Yeah! If you live that long!" Twilight said rolling her eyes  
"Twilight" snapped Rainbow Dash "I think we all know, I am always wright in these situations"

"I was wrong" Rainbow muttered to her self.  
"Yesssss, very wrong..." A deep whispering voice echoed in her head  
"W-what the hey!?" Dash said out loud "who's there?" She questioned  
"Rainbows... They represent hope and peace do they not. They show us the light, but they are nothing but an illusion, they hold no magical properties, they are just visible light and this... Magic is nothing but a fairy tale. But I am not and I am COMING" it shouted. Suddenly an image of a dark land shrouded in hate and fear flew threw her mind.  
"Why live life when you can suffer it?" The demonic voice asked  
"I-I don't know what you taking about" Rainbow Dash quivered  
"No... You wouldn't, after all this land has not felt my cold touch... But it will... It will..." The voice became distorted and eventually faded into nothing but a blur. By now Rainbow Dashes head was spinning, she floated up to her bed and as soon as she closed her eyes she was asleep.

The next day was the average sunny day in Ponyvile, flowers blooming, humming birds humming and Ponies chatting. The only thing not so perfect about the day was the fact that there was too many clouds in the sky to count. Applejack was happily apple bucking when a voice came calling her name, it was Fluttershy "Applejack, oh thank goodness, have you seen Rainbow Dash?"  
"Nope, why?"  
"It's just I haven't seen her all day and the clouds are still hear and she is supposed to clear the clouds and she hasn't so maybe something has happened maybe she's hurt o-or worse m-maby she is in so much pai-"  
"I'm gonna stop ya wright there sugar cube" Applejack interrupted "I don't think Rainbow Dash is in any danger, you know what she's like, always napping and being a big old lazy pants, nothing to worry about"  
Fluttershy began to calm down "now" she continued "why don't you go see if she's in her house, if its still there"  
"Ok..." Fluttershy accepted and fluttered away.  
As Fluttershy flew many things passed through her head, she couldn't explain it be she felt an urge to check on Rainbow Dash, it was the type of feeling a mother gets when she can almost sense when their child is in danger. But this feeling was different, it was uncanny, Fluttershy was scared, but she did not know why.

As Fluttershy approached the cloud mansion she noticed it had taken quite a beating, but had held together rather well. "Rainbow Dash?" She asked out loud as she wearily entered the slightly distorted house. She climbed the windy stair case until she came to Rainbows bed room, the door was half open "R-rainbow, are you in hear" she waited for a reply but all was silent. She slowly pushed the door open with her hoof and saw Rainbow Dash lying in her back, her head hanging over the side of the bed. Fluttershy ran up to her sleeping friend and called again "Rainbow Dash wake up, you over slept". A slight mumble came from Rainbow Dash "F-Fluttershy" she looked up at her friend questioningly "what are you doin hear"  
"Rainbow, oh thank goodness"  
"Fluttershy" Rainbow said getting up "what time is it?" Fluttershy looked at her friend in a worried manner "It's... Midday" she said flinching, "it's what!" Screamed Rainbow Dash "oh no no no no no no, it can't be, today's the day Spitfire wants to see all of our new moves, I'm doomed!" Rainbow sank to the floor "what is she expels me?"  
"Rainbow Dash, she won't expel you" Fulttershy said in a vein attempt to calm her friend down. Rainbow Dash rose up "no, you're wright, not if I leave now!" She said flying of in the direction of her home City, Cloudsdale.  
By the time she arrived the last pony in the class was just begining their new trick "oh, just in time" Rainbow Dash thanked  
"Rainbow Dash!" Barked Spitfire "your up"  
"But I need to get into my uniform"  
"No time cadet, there's a storm commin, MOVE"  
Rainbow Dash new better than to question Spitfires orders so she took of faster than lightning and began her trick. First she needed to get high enough and then speed down and create a series of Sonic Rainbooms. So she began to climb higher and higher until she was barely a spec.

In the weather station where the Pegasi monitor the weather panic and confusion spread "what is that!" Shouted one of the workers "run!" screamed another. They were referring to the clouds, up in the sky a group of storm clouds were merging together, from Spitfires view it looked like a some form of horrific demon, it was facing Rainbow Dashes direction. It had a big elongated head head, like a goat, with a large mouth that went all the way back to the jaw bone, huge horns that bent down over its eyes and a huge body too big to make out. Rainbow Dash was too close to make it out, she just saw it as a normal storm. Spitfire almost fainted at the horrific sight, the creature slowly moved towards Rainbow Dash. Two giant green eyes opened In front of Rainbow Dash causing her to grind to a halt, her fear took hold. The creature grinned and began to speak "suffering is my game, this no ordinary rain, I can't express my disgust towards you rainbow colours main, fear me Rainbow Dash and feel thy PAIN," the creature slowly opened its huge mouth and slammed it jaws down on Rainbow Dash. As it did it disappeared into nothing but cloud, Rainbow felt hundreds of volts of electricity channel through her. Her screams of pain could be heard form Ponyvile. She saw flashes of the hellish realm once more. A dark court with wretched creatures clung onto the side, I throne of bones and blood and a dark shadow sitting upon it. Eventually the electricity faded and the visions with it. Rainbow Dash could feel her life leaving her, she blacked out and began to fall. The Wonderbolts dispatched in an attempt to catch her. Spitfire raced toward the falling Rainbow and caught her meters before hitting the ground. Spitfire lay her down and attempted to wake her up, by now a crowd had gathered "I don't know what to do!" Spitfire whispered to herself "somepony, anypony call an ambulance!"  
"In the sky? Are you nuts?" Sorin questioned  
"We'll take her down to Ponyvile ill carry her"  
And so Spitfire carried a half dead Rainbow Dash down to Ponyvile.

Someplace beyond the mortal realms a creature sat upon a throne of bones and blood, it was the sky creature, long head, huge horns that came over its blood thirsty emerald green eyes, teeth like daggers, now the body was visible it had, long arms with claws at the end of each, long tapering nails, a tail that seemed to go on forever with another clawed hand at the end. The demon rose of his throne, he had the legs of a primeval creature with sharp spikes coming form it's knees and back knees, it tapped it talons on the cold black surface of the stone floor of the court. It then rose from its throne, the bones creaked as it did. The creature then began to pace, its back was coved it long black spikes, like a porcupine, the rest of its body was covered in rough brown fur, it looked as if it could give you some serous carpet burns, the demon also had huge black wings so big and dense they could block out the sun. The creature finally stopped "my loyal subjects" it spoke in a low raspy voice "I have located a new world to corrupt, we have corrupted many, Pandora, Cybertron, earth and now our dark powers of pain and suffering shall shroud Equestria!" As he spoke demons of all sorts came crawling, flying and squirming to him "I Stalactite, lord and master of violence, pain, misery and suffering shall not fail" Stalactite spread his huge black wings and rose from the ground "they will fear us, they will see, if its the last thing I do, I'll make them bow down... TOO ME!"

NOTE: Hi, I would like to thank you for reading the first chapter of Blood Rainbow. I would also like to encourage you to read on. I am planning to make this a very big story full of interesting characters, epic and descriptive plot lines and thrilling adventures. This is just the beginning of a long and truly epic tail. So please leave your reviews and read on my friends!


	2. The court of the demon lord

Chapter 2 "the court of the demon lord"

At the Ponyvile hospital six mortified ponies sit waiting to see if Rainbow dash is ok. Quiet sobbing was all that could be heard from the room, "what exactly h-happend?" Pinky Pie asked, Spitfire looked up and rolled her eyes "for the tenth time, she was caught in an electrical storm"  
"There's more to it than that" Twilight started "isn't there", Spitfire was hesitant, she didn't want to go around telling ponies that Rainbow Dash was engulfed in the jaws of a giant electrical cloud demon. She looked around and noticed that all eyes were on her, even the staff, "I don't know what you want me to say, t-that's the truth". Applejack looked at her with a calculating gaze "I don't think I believe her"  
"Me nether" Rarity agreed. All Spitfire could do is stick to her guts, she didn't want to worry them. A few minuets passed until a doctor came to see them "we've managed to stabilise her but that's all we can do at the moment, I'm sorry"  
"Can we see her" asked Fluttershy, the doctor was hesitant "yes, but you'll have to be careful"  
The the doctor led them to the room where they had their cyan friend. The doctor opened the door revealing a very pale and corpse like Rainbow Dash, "oh my" Rarity gasped, the six ponies all sat and looked upon their friend, five of them were trying to suss out what really happened to her, there were no marks or scars, she looked weathered and none of them saw any sign of physical injury. It just didn't add up what was Spitfire hiding from them?

Meanwhile a dark malevolent creature sat with other creatures of nightmare, "my lord" quiver one "how will we shroud the land in darkness, I mean assuming you have a plan?" This creature resembles a human but had seven eyes and had a split bottom jaw, it had a few strands of black hair and at its elbow it had another forearm coming from it meaning it had an arm and a half on each side.  
"My little Revenant" Stalactite said "how you always question my wisdom"  
"N-no! No at all master I just I-I wanted to-"  
"Silence filth" Stalactite roared as he swiped the creature with his nails causing it to fall to the floor as its black guts slowly filtered from its already cold body, the other creatures looked at him fearfully. Then two dark shadows appeared from behind their demon lord, it was too dim to make them out, "dinner time" Stalactite laughed as the two creatures began to tear apart the dead demon, "now then" Stalactite continued "will anyone else attempted to fill his shoes?"  
"Not his shoes, but may thoue offer a question to thee" said one of the largest demons, this one was not to be trifled with, it had a long snake like body, it head was thin and sleek, it had tentacles coming from ether side of its head, its moth was small when closed but when this creature opens it mouth it reviles a display of gnashing teeth.  
"Lizard Ray a most loyal and powerful asset" Stalactite said standing up "prey tell, what is you question?"  
"You targeted the rainbow creature, why"  
"My hatred for colour and hope drives my hatred for that filthy hoar!"  
"Then it my upset you my lord to learn that the target may have... survived"  
Stalactite grabbed hold of a near by demons head and began to squeeze, the demon screamed at the pain "HOW, HOW DOSE THAT FILTH LIVE!?" he paused and stopped crushing the head of one of his subjects "YES! If its alive we could use it to send a message to the creatures that inhabit the rock, not to mention the endless fun of torturing that poor animal to oblivion" by now he was stroking the head of the demon he had previously sought to kill.  
Stalactite sat upon his throne and grinned "this shall be most entertaining"

It was now midnight in Equestria, Rainbow Dash lay motionless in the hospital bed, her friends still with her expecting the worst. Rainbow began to switch. This aroused concern among the ponies in the room, Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes, "that was one h-hell of a storm" she whispered to herself, she did not know that her friends were there, "RAINBOW DASH!" Shouted Pinky Pie "YOURE AWAKE!" Everypony in the room turned and rushed to the side of the bed, "oh thank the heavens" Applejack shouted.  
"Rainbow" Twilight asked "what happened?"  
Rainbow looked around the room, all ponies were looking at her. Then Spitfire caught her eye, she knew Spitfire saw the creature and probably didn't tell her friends at the fear of getting laughed at. Rainbow agreed with her decision. "I... I-I ran into an electrical storm" Dash said smiling uncomfortably. All the Ponies looked at her with startled expressions. "We... We believe ya sugar cube... I think?" Applejack said looking at Spitfire questionably. All Spitfire could do was give an uneasy smile. A few silent moments passed. "Oh come on!" Rarity spoke up "why are we all so questioning, who cares what happened at the moment, all that matters is the fact that Rainbow Dash is all right"  
"I'll second that!" Pinky Pie squeaked running over to Rainbow and hugging her tighter than bark on a tree. Then in came the doctor. "Rainbow Dash, good your awake" he said "how are you feeling?"  
"I'm feeling fine I-" Dash was cut of by a voice, a voice she hoped never to hear again. "DASH!" It boomed "enjoying yourself?"  
"G-go away!" Rainbow screamed. Causing her friends to look at her in confusion. "Rainbow Dash" said Twilight "the doctor is trying to help!"  
Rainbow could no longer hear her friends, only the fear and hate of Stalactite. "Enjoy these next few day Rainbow Dash! For they will be the most painfully evil of your life" he said coldly. By now Rainbow Dash was quivering in a pool of fear, her friends were starting to get concerned. Then suddenly the voice of the black hearted demon faded into nothing. "Rainbow?" Fluttershy said wearily approaching her "Rainbow?". The cyan pony slowly lifted her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Am I ok to go doc?" She strangely asked.  
"Ok?" The doctor replied "ok?, you were just screaming about some voice and now you want to know if you can leave!" The doctor paused "and the answer is yes!" he said with a smile.  
"WHAT!" The ponies all said in unison.  
"Yes, she has physically recovered but we can't treat hallucinations, however we can prescribe a few medical drugs to help them pass"  
"That'll have to do" Twilight said "thank you" and with that Rainbow Dash was checked out of the hospital.

Rainbow Dash flew up to her cloud home and sat down on one of her plush clouds. She contemplated for three hours on what the voice could be. Eventually she convinced herself that is was her imagination, but this was a false sense of security. Little did she know, far away beyond the realm of the mortal beings sat a creature, one who was more than determined to bring about an age of pain and suffering. He was not far from his goal, not far at all...


	3. Myths and legends

Chapter 3 "myths and legends"

Stalactites roars of anger cold be heard from the moral realms. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE GATEWAY IS CLOSED!" He barked at the Revenant.  
"It won't work, the machine need lost souls to power it. We've been trapped hear so long, I guess its run dry. I'm sorry my lord, there's no other way!"  
Stalactite looked at the gateway, it consisted of two large red spikes curving round forming an arch, this device was used to access any realm, he used it to plant the seeds of corruption in worlds. Now that method of transport was gone. "There must be a way" muttered Stalactite "you there!" He said pointing at a near by creature "fetch the archives!" He ordered. Soon the creature returned with a black book, it was big, the pages were torn and dusty but it was readable. Stalactite furiously flicked through its old pages. Then he stopped and slammed his long sharp finger on one of the pages "Blood magic" he blurted out "this is it!" He returned to his throne and began to read.  
"What is Blood magic?" Questioned Lazard Ray.  
"If you shut up I can translate the inscriptions" Stalactite paused before beginning read "Cloum seaur dala stinsalock, that basically means we need a host, namura davinsa qua latorex, humph! We need to use something called the amulet of bones and blood!" Stalactite shifted in the throne before further translating the ancient language. "Deviniour yall hexonumbray, qua dala latorex qua namura sub dala hex, so in full we need to find a host in the other realm, find the amulet of bones and blood, use the amulet to fully invade the mind of the host, then utilise use their mind power to create a portal form their world to ours" Stalactite sat quietly for a moment "doesn't seem too difficult"  
"Dosen- my lord what in the world is the amulet of bones and blood, who will be our host and how do we use such an amulet to actually travel into the mind of a mortal?!" Lizard Ray questioned.  
"The amulet was a ancient method of torture, it allowed the user to travel into the mind of its victim and from there the wearer had full control over that creature, you can make them suffer, feel the most unimaginable pain in the known universe and the best part is that it can't actually physically harm the host, the limit of pain is endless, in this case we need to use the amulet to access the forgotten part of the brain"  
"Forgotten?" Lizard asked  
"Yes, every creature has the capability to harness the powers of the universe this is when their brain power is at one-hundred percent power, but mortals can only use a pathetic ten percent, but using the amulet we can combine my power with the hosts forging a portal to their weak and pathetic realm"  
"Why don't you just use your power to make such a portal?"  
"I would, but the portal would lead hear, it's a one way system, I can get us back, but for us to get there it must be one of those pathetic "ponys" to do open the gateway, we must form a link between worlds. It will take time, but if it gets me to that realm then so be it. It is my duty"  
"But what "pony" will we use?" Asked Lizard Ray.  
Stalactite rose from his throne and grinned "I know just the one!"

Rainbow Dash woke up form her peaceful slumber, she rose from her bed and happily floated down to her happy, sunny town, Ponyvile. Her mind was now at rest after convincing herself that Stalactite was not real, oh how she was wrong.  
Fluttershy was enjoying the sunny weather and decided to have one of her famous out door pick nicks with her animal friends, Rainbow Dash knew she would be doing this so she decided to drop in and see how she was getting on. "Hey Fluttershy" she began.  
"Oh, hey Rainbow Dash, lovely to see you out and about, join us?" Fluttershy replied.  
"Of course" accepted Rainbow Dash, she sat down next to a black bear and a few squirrels. "So, how are you feeling, any more voices in you head?" Asked Fluttershy.  
"Ha, no I'm sure I was just a little messed up after the accident"  
"Well that's good to hear" Fluttershy said "you know you should go see Scootaloo, she was devastated when she realised you were hurt, she would have visited you at the hospital but she was at school"  
"Sure, I'll go see Scoot later on today" Rainbow said with a warm smile.

Stalactite paced up and down trying to think of ways to retrieve the amulet, he had bean pacing for seven hours. "My lord" interrupted Lizard Ray "should we not infiltrate the animals mind sooner rather than later, I believe it has dismissed us a figment of its imagination"  
"Ha! Let them dismiss us, they can't escape there fate, give them these few days to relax while we retrieve the amulet and just when they are most contempt, we strike!" Lizard Ray began to clean his razor teeth with one of his tentacles. "Have you thought of a way to retrieve this amulet, you do know the legends?"  
"Aye, I am familiar with the legends, even I am wise enough to fear that place" Stalactite approached the giant serpent "but together and with a team we can retrieve it"  
"But my lord" the titan argued "the..." He paused and came closer to his masters pointed ears in fear "the Wall Runners!"  
"I am am aware of the danger, but if we retrieve the amulet it won't matter, it is my destiny to corrupt worlds, I was given this task by the all maker, we were given this task, I will not bow to fear, I AM fear!"  
"Y-yes my lord, but have you located it?"  
"Not yet, but in time, I will discover its location and then we will find it and take it!"

Scootaloo sat board in her lesson about geometry, she just wanted to jump out of a window. But then, the best sound imaginable rang in her little filly ears, the school bell. She happily galloped out with her crusader friends talking about ways to get their cutie marks. But then Scootaloo saw her idol, Rainbow Dash waiting at the school gate. "I'll catch up with ya" she told her friends before galloping towards Rainbow. She jumped up and tackled the coloured pony to the floor "oh your ok, thank Celestia!" She squealed.  
"Of course I'm ok, you didn't think a little lightning would stop me did ya?"  
Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo walked through the streets of Ponyvile chatting about tricks, flying and what it was like to get struck by lightning. "So It was like dying and coming back to life... cool!" Said Scootaloo "well, it been nice talking to you, my friends are probably wondering where I am so..."  
"Of corse, don't let me keep you" Rainbow said smiling warmly at the young filly. After Scootaloo departed she decided to go and visit Rarity.

"The Bleak fall cave!" Shouted Lizard Ray "it's not there is it?"  
"Yes" replied Stalactite "and we're going there... now!"  
Many demons had gathered after hearing their commander scream in terror, now then knew why. "Attention my loyal subjects, we set of for Bleak fall cave!" Many demons fled at the very mention of the name.  
"Any demon who doesn't want to go, just ask me..." A confused silence filled the hall "and I'll rip ya throat out!" He continued, after his threat all the demons returned, they would rather face the Wall Runners instead of their cruel master. "My lord" began Lizard Ray "may I make a suggestion"  
"You may" said Stalactite still glaring at his cowering demons.  
"Would it not be wise to wait, after all we do have an eternity to do this"  
"I am a very impatient demon... but very well" he said raising his voice to address his subjects "we shall leave in twelve hours!"  
"Not exactly what I had in mind" Ray mutters to himself  
Many demons gave sighs of relief, but there happiness was bitter sweet, they knew they were all going to die at the claws of the dreaded Wall Runners.

Wall Runners were creatures of legend, they supposedly guard the amulet of bones and blood. No living thing had ever seen them and lived to tell the story, except Stalactite, he says they have an unnatural ability to adapt to any environment making them nearly to impossible to kill, they are fast, strong and the perfect organism designed for one thing, to hunt and kill, mortals and immortals alike. Many call them the slayer of gods. Now Stalactite was about to lead an assault on their nest and he was determined to win.


	4. Bones and Blood

Chapter 4 "Bones and Blood"

Stalactite stood facing a large structure, it was tall, black and looked like the gates of hell itself. In the centre of this structure was a door with two statues at ether side one was of a forked tonged demon sitting on a pile of gold and riches while the other one fumbled to throw its gold away. These statues represented Hoarder Wasters, a group of demons damned to the Bleak Fall cave by Stalactite. Some say they were driven to insanity for while one relished in the endless riches of the cave the other felt a desire to spend it. This was just one of Stalactites many cruel punishments he issued to unfaithful subjects. "Do you think they are still alive?" Lizard Ray asked his malevolent master.  
"I do not care" the demon replied "I would of thought the Runners would have slain that filth by now, but if they are there, they will know better than to stand in my way"  
"But my lord, they are insane, they will most likely attack anything"  
"Then we will attack back" Stalactite said turning to face his demon team. "Listen up filth, there are more than just Wall Runners in there. Creatures damed long ago, creatures that have no reason not to attack us, so be on your guard"  
"Is it true that the Hoarder Wasters are in there?" Asked a demon at the back of the group, Stalactite gave a cold smile. "Yes, it is true, but there is a much worse thing out hear wright now than all of the creatures in there put together"  
"What!?" Screamed the demons in unison. Stalactite liked his front teeth with his blood red forked tongue. He smiled at his frightened flock of sheep "ME!" he screamed causing his team to run aimlessly into the dark, dim and dangerous cave. Stalactite turned to his right hand demon. "Shall we?" He said walking into the gloomy doorway. Lizard Ray sighed to him self and slithered in behind his master.  
Inside was almost pitch black and as silent as snow. All the demons began to cluster up at the fear of being snatched by the Runners. Stalactite barged past his quivering servants making them jump and scream. "Shut up!" He loudly whispers "keep you damn voices down or this quest will be over before it even begins!" He turned and began to walk forward into the seemingly endless tunnels of the cave. The team of demons were not far behind. One of the clumsier members of the pack hit his arm on the side of a rock making a noise, he jumped and ran to catch up with is team. Little did that demon know, behind him, two thin, red eyes watched him in the gloom, then a slender, black arm came forth from the darkness. It grabbed the demon without warning and dragged him into the shrouded mist of the cave before the demon could scream it was dead.  
It wasn't long before Stalactite noticed. "Hold it!" He whispers "there was twelve of us, now there is only eleven" he turned to Lizard Ray "where's that idiot got to"  
Then as if on queue, a body dropped down dropped down form the ceiling. It was almost unrecognisable but they all knew it was the missing member of the flock. Then a noise came from behind them, they lashed around trying to figure out where it came from. Then out of nowhere a black creature leaped from the shadows tackling a demon to the floor and biting its throat out. "RUN!" Stalactite roared! Nothing stopped to see what the attacker looked like, they just ran in all directions. One by one the demons were picked of and dragged into the shadows. Before long it was just Stalactite, Lizard Ray and three surviving members of the flock. Stalactite sniffed the blood drenched air, he could not figure out where they were, the air was simply too polluted. Behind him a dark creature leaped form the wall, Stalactite lashed his body around and whipped the Runner into the side of the cave, he then took his left hand and wrapped it round the Wall Runners throat. "Such a shame" he whispered to himself "so perfect" he bend down and bit into the creature head with his teeth. He made sure to spit out the blood, who know what it was. He turned and saw a beam of light at the end of the tunnel. "There!" He shouted to the survivors.  
"Master!" Boomed Lizard Ray "look!"  
Stalactite looked at the walls and to his horror saw millions of Runners coating them. "That shouldn't be a problem for you!" He said to his slithery friend. Ray knew what he meant. He opened his mouth revealing a set of huge rotating teeth and began to dig a tunnel. Stalactite waited for the demon to get ready. Then a tentacle rose form the dirt motioning for them to run. Stalactite turned to the three cowering demons behind him. "Run!" He barked.  
All three ran down the tunnel, Stalactite leading. The Wall Runners noticed and jumped form the wall only to be lashed with Lizard Rays tentacles. Stalactite saw them watching, learning. The Runners began to grow wings and adapt to the threat. Before long there were Wall Runners flying through the tunnel, Stalactite used his tail and grabbed a bunch with the massive claw at the end and tossed them into others that came. Every now and then Lizard Ray would surface and grind a few in his gnashing teeth before retuning to his underground domain. They were almost there, the light drew closer as they ran. Stalactite looked behind him and saw nothing but red eyes crawling towards him. He stopped running, spread his wings and flew into the army of death. Soon the Runners engulfed him and he was nowhere to be seen. Lizard Ray saw this. "Oh...shit!" he whisper to himself loudly.  
Then fire came roaring through the tunnel like a nuclear bomb. Ray hid in his tunnel, dragging the demons down with him. After a minuet or so Lizard Ray resurfaced, coughing as he did. He saw Stalactite standing in the centre of the cave with many burned Runners at his feet, steam still seeping from his nostrils. "You promised you would never do that again!" Lizard Ray roared.  
"Do I look like a creature that keeps promises?" Stalactite replied.  
Lizard Ray looked at his master and remembered he was the lord of pain and suffering. "Oh... right..." he muttered to himself. Stalactite walked over to his minions "lets just hurry up shall we?" he said "who knows what they do next!"

After a few minuets of trekking through the seemingly endless tunnel they finally reached a cove, it was full of shinny treasure, the stack almost reached the top of the cove. "What one is the amulet?" asked Lizard Ray.  
"Your guesses are as good as mine" said Stalactite "it's never been seen before remember, just look for a amulet withe red gem in the centre" he said. Before any of them could even begin to search a noise was heard, two noises, three and in no time at all thousands of noises echoed through the cave. Soon shadows began to appear on the walls, something was coming. Before long they were surrounded by hundreds of creatures, some had gold skin, long arms and had small heads coated in spikes with long pointed ears. The others were green, they looked similar but had shorter arms and no spikes on their heads. "Hoarder Wasters" muttered Stalactite. Two Hoarders grabbed one a stray demon, one grabbed its ledges and the other it's head and began to fight over it. Eventually the demon split in half and both grabbed their segment and ran of with it. "Humph! We might have a problem..." Lizard Ray whispered into Stalactites pointed ears. All the remaining three could do was wait. But then bright lights shimmered in the tunnel they had just came from. A few thousand burning Wall Runners began to flood the chamber, they ambushed the Hoarder Wasted leaving trails of fire in their wake. Stalactite looked around ferociously, he looked up and to his delight saw an amulet with a red gem in the centre. "That's IT! CLIMP" he roared. Before long the bottom of the cove was engulfed in hells fire, some Hoarder Wasted followed the three remaining demons however many were just dragged back down into the ever growing flames. Stalactite looked back, the flames were almost upon them, he spread his wings and shot up into the air in a vain attempted to control the fire. Then the Wall Runners tauntingly climbed up the pile of melting gold. Lizard Ray did his up most to keep them at bay but they were as hot as the sun, he had to retreat. Stalactite eventually reached the top but seven Runners flew towards him, he jumped in the air letting three of them fly into the cave wall, he then whipped two of them with his sharp tail. Finally he rammed the remaining two with is horns, stabbing them right through their black hearts. Now the heat was almost end unbearable, even for a demon. Stalactite bent down and picked up the amulet of bones and blood, holding it high for all to see. Then without warning the Wall Runners stopped and looked at the demon lord blankly, their fires died down. Soon the flames were nothing but steam and the cove was no longer engulfed in death. The Runners bowed their heads, this came as a shock to Stalactite and the other two. An evil grin crept up the belligerent demons face. He stood up tall and proud "my loyal servants!" he spoke "this is the beginning of a new age, an age of power, soon we will walk upon mortal realms at will. This quest will be worth while! But first we need a target and that target is EQUESTRIA!" As he finished his speech the Runners spread their wings and circled their new master. Stalactite smiled, this was the victory he wanted and he had it.

Applejack stood still and low to the ground like a predator stalking prey. "This time!" she said to herself, then she set of as fast a lightning. She ran all the way round the farm and back to where she started. By now she was exhausted. "What time Applebloom?" She called to her sister who had a stop watch fastened round het neck.  
"Seven minuets and forty seven seconds!" She called.  
"Damn!" Applejack loudly whispered to her self "if I'm ever going to stand a chance against Rainbow Dash in the running of the leaves I'm gonna need to cut my time by two minuets at least!"  
"That was amazing Applejack" squeaked Applebloom "the other ponies ain't gota chance!"  
"Well I don't know about that" replied Applejack "Rainbow is fast..."  
"Hey Applejack" called a voice in the cloud free sky, "Applejack up hear!"  
"Well speak of the devil!" Applejack said looking up at a smug Rainbow Dash. "Two minuets hugh?" She said mockingly "well the race is tomorrow so I'd get practicing!"  
"Ha ha, I forgot to laugh. I don't care if I loose as long as I a loose fairly and not to a flying cheat!" Applejack jokingly shouted.  
"Ha! Don't worry, no wings" Dash assured "hey, they're setting up the track! Wanna come see!" Applejack looked at Applebloom in a concerned way "can you look after yourself for a while?"  
"Sure thing sis!" Applebloom said with a smile on her little face.  
"Um yeah! I'll come!" Shouted Applejack "as long as Applebloom behaves herself!" She said motioning to her mischievous sister. "She'll be fine" Rainbow Dash assured "come on!"

Stalactite returned to his fortress with his right hand demon Lizard Ray, a stray survivor and his new army of Wall Runners. "My lord" began Lizard Ray "should we not test it?"  
"Indeed, I have just the target in mind" he said coldly.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack arrived at the race track, they looked at the orange landscape in awe. "It's beautiful..." Applejack gasped "I sure would be honoured to run through that!"  
"Come on!" urged Rainbow Dash " lets get a closer look"

Stalactite slipped the amulet around his neck. "Right then!" he said "shall we begin?"

Rainbow Dash Applejack ran right up to the track, they began to explore the truly amazing scenery.

"Fist of all" said Lizard Ray reading from the ancient archives "think of the host, think hard, imagine the world though their eyes" he instructed.

Applejack and Dash split up and galloped around in delight, the leaves on the trees were so beautiful they were almost hypnotic.

"I see the mortal weakling" Stalactite said "she is not alone"  
"Ok" confirmed Ray "now extend you mind, open it and allow you force, your power to infiltrate her soul".

Suddenly Rainbow Dash felt ill, she didn't feel like herself. She was about to go and find Applejack when a unnatural force attacked her mind, she fell to the floor and squirmed.

"She's putting up a fight" laughed Stalactite "this will be fun..."

Rainbow could not take it much more, she lost her strength and unwillingly allowed a creature of pure evil into her head.

"Ok" said Stalactite "I'm in"  
"This is but the first stage" said Lizard Ray "you now have temporary control of her body, but not her power, first you must make a strong bond between your minds, this should be practiced regularly."  
"Ok" replied Stalactite "but while we have control, let's cause some pain!"

Rainbow Dash, now being controlled by Stalactite stumbled over to the track, she bent down on the left hand side and began to dig with her hooves. After forming a steep ditch she then got some rocks and threw them into the pit. "Now when her beloved Applejack runs this race, she will suffer!"

Stalactite struggled to control the bond, eventually he let go.

Rainbow Dash woke up and for a few seconds had the mental capacity of Derpy. She shook her head in an attempt to wake her self up. "Must of dozed off" she assured herself "while...standing up?" she was beyond confused. "Rainbow!" called Applejack from beyond the trees "Rainbow, lets head off, don't want to ruin the race now do we?"  
"N-no" Rainbow Dash replied "I'll be right with ya!" she took one more look around before setting of with her friend. Little did she know, there was a pit full of sharp rocks lying in the middle of the track, somepony was going to get hurt tomorrow that was certain...


End file.
